Regan Grimes Switches To Classic Men's Physique And Wins The New York Pro

In a surprise turn of events at the New York Pro, Canadian IFBB Pro Regan Grimes made a last-minute decision to switch into competing in the Men's Classic Physique category instead of the Open Bodybuilding category! Bodybuilding fans may remember that Regan announced he was switching to Classic Physique after he returned from Kuwait this past December. This announcement shocked fans and upset some competitors who wanted to see Regan continue to get as massive as humanly possible. The most vocal of which was Sergio Oliva Jr who called Regan out on his decision which caused a heated banter online. In an interview with at the 2018 Victoria Cup with Muscle Insider Publisher Scott Welch, Regan Announced he’d be competing in the open bodybuilding stream at the 2018 New York Pro and Toronto Pro SuperShow (Editors note: Muscle Insider will be providing live contest coverage of the Toronto Pro Supershow thanks to our sponsor Allmax)

In a recent interview with RxMuscle just days before the New York Pro, Regan confirmed he would compete in the open bodybuilding class. When pressed by Dave Palumbo as to why he originally said he was switching to Classic Physique, Regan said his prior announcement to switch to Classic Physique was made at a time when he was when he was really confused about what his future direction in the sport would be. 

But the morning of the New York Pro, Grimes posted the following:

“Didn’t plan this at all as I even said on RxMuscle interview Wednesday I was doing open but...I arrived Wednesday to New York and coach Chris Aceto had something up his sleeve and we decided to do CLASSIC! It sure wasn’t easy to make the weight but I really love the category and happy with my decision. This is where I will continue to sculpt my physique accordingly!”

Later that night, Regan Grimes won the New Pro Pro show and qualified for the Olympia this September! If he decides to compete at the Olympia, he will stand next to fellow Canadian IFBB Pro and Olympia runner up Chris Bumstead. These two battled it out many times as amateurs, to see them on stage together at the Olympia would be epic. 

Muscle Insider Insight  

We saw warning signs that this might be coming as Grimes posted many classic physique poses on his social media pages asking fans which versions looked better for his physique. This is definitely not typical posting style for him and he also wasn’t listed as competing in the open division or the classic physique division when the official scorecards were released by the IFBB on Monday, May 14th. But a trained eye could tell from his photos that Regan looked noticeably thinner in his shoulders, back and arms than in photos of the past, a sign that he may have been trying to lose muscle during his prep. Regan stands just under 6 feet tall so the weight he would need to fall under is 230 pounds. Below is what Muscle Insider Publisher Scott Welch had to say about Regan's move to Classic Physique. 

“This is a good move for Regan’s career as the Classic Physique category is gaining popularity with fans and he has the type of physique that could do really well in it. But this will also allow him to not have to put his body through the “extremes” of what’s required to gain enough muscle to be a top tier pro in the open stream. He can always go back to the open stream if he decides to as he’s still very young still. Now that Regan's won the New York Pro, he now qualifies for the Olympia which I know has been a goal of his for some time.”